Echoes of Leyendecker 2

I hope that you read an article I wrote a few months back about the great American illustrator J.C. Leyendecker. I love his work and would like very much to be able to create work in that style.

After painting the "Pink Trunks" man I was very disappointed. I felt as if I had started out with a good idea but got further and further away from the original composition I had planned. The original idea was to work in a very soft and transparent style. I wanted a very romanticized and atmospheric piece of artwork. Instead, my piece was very hard and sculptural and solid. I think the end product was one hundred percent the opposite of the style I planned to create.

While the result was unintended I have to admit that its not unappealing. There are some strong points about this piece. The balance and symmetry of the figure is good. The treatment of light, shadow, highlight, reflected light, and skin tones are appropriate. But, why did I lean in this direction? I thought about what my personal tastes in figurative art were. I tried to remember what influenced me. My first love of art was the Renaissance master works of Michelangelo and Da Vinci. The sculpture of Michelangelo and Bernini. So, is there any wonder why my work might have that very modeled and sculptural look to it.

I've also just been reading a book about the great American illustrators, Maxfield Parrish, Norman Rockwell, and his mentor J.C. Leyendecker. I found some illustrations by Leyendecker and was struck by a few similarities between his work and mine. First of all, there is the very statuesque and stylized rendering of the figure. Secondly, I noticed the cool bluish reflected light on the legs. And finally, I see the strong, almost polished quality of the highlights on the skin.
Am I suggesting that my work matches the quality of Leyendecker? Absolutely not. I'm analyzing this piece with as much modesty as I can muster. But, I am trying to convince myself that the aesthetic that I achieved is one that has been previously demonstrated and widely appreciated in another era. It can't be denied that the beautiful male figures in Leyendecker's work were extremely stylized and decorative. He wasn't trying to show those men as hardworking All-American athletes. He was blatantly celebrating a fantasized, idealized depiction of beautiful men. Apparently the publishers and readers of the Saturday Evening Post were celebrating right along with him.

Leyendecker's athletes had a definite sensual vitality to them. They look waxed and ready to go onstage as Chippendale's dancers more than prepared for a rowing competition. Yet, in the 1930's this image had a certain innocence to it. In that day and age these figures could be admired as beautiful without being overtly sexual. If the same type of cover were on a magazine today it wouldn't be a painting. It would feature a photograph of near naked sweaty fitness models. Where's the "art" in that? When put that way, I'm proud to have painted a piece that reflects Leyendecker's style.

Leyendecker

I've just come across the work of the illustrator JC Leyendecker. I love the all-american heroic look that he gave his figures. He was a mentor and great influence on Norman Rockwell. Of course it can be agreed that Rockwell's images are burned into our collective consciousness about what our American self-image is. Both Leyendecker and Rockwell were artists for the Saturday Evening Post covers. I've always loved Rockwell's work and fell in love with that style. I knew that designing Post covers was too big of a job for just one man, but I never knew who the other artists were. I also knew that the Post liked to keep that nostalgic/Americana look during this time period. You can imagine my surprise when I found that it wasn't the great Rockwell, but his mentor Leyendecker who originally worked in this style. Now that doesn't take anything away from Rockwell. While Leyendecker's compositional and figurative influence can be seen in Rockwell, it was Rockwell who chose the characterizations, subjects and story-telling skills that set him apart.

Then there is that little detail about Leyendecker that a lot of the "baseball, mom, and apple pie Americans" would have us overlook. Leyendecker was gay. That handsome boy-next-door persona that he perfected was drawn not just with his talent but with his keen admiration of the male form. The wholesome All-American youth that graced the magazine covers and print ads for Arrow shirts was created by a man that truly loved men. How ironic it is that a gay artist would go on to influence man that would shape the imagery of the American character and nationalism. Rockwell would paint soldiers, athletes, farmers, business men as noble heroic figures with character and personality that reflected who Americans thought themselves to be. And to think that the guiding light that illuminated those images came from a gay man serving as a mentor. So, could it be that those patriotic and wistful Americans that admired Rockwell were also admiring the gentle gay influence of Leyendecker's soul? It's something to think about.